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"It is really important to support companies that are making an effort in improving the lives of workers and the relationship to our natural environment."

We need to switch to a sustainable relationship with fashion ASAP!

My sustainable fashion journey has been going on for all my life, as I’ve always been taught to rewear my mother’s or grandmother’s old clothing, go to thrift shops and learn for myself to repair and alter items of clothing. Still I fell into the trap of fast-fashion when I was a teenager, lured into the shops by the small prices and the “more is better” mentality. But after discovering more about the atrocities of the fashion industry, about 5 years ago, my sense of justice could no longer accept the suffering that went on behind the scenes of our seams.

I started a boycott of all fast-fashion companies. I decided to primarily buy clothes second-hand, to dedicate my bachelor’s in philosophy to write papers on different aspects of the fashion industry and consumerism, and now I am finishing my master thesis in philosophy on how we can liberate ourselves from the desire to consume things we do not really need. Last Black Friday I organized a demonstration on the busiest shopping street of Amsterdam to raise awareness on the effects of our unsustainable and unethical overconsumption of the planet.

2 years ago I started an Instagram page on which I share my life and thoughts, and try to inspire people to choose second-hand first! My motto is Thrift & Thrive, but I know that not everybody is able to spend time and dedication to filtering through the piles of discarded clothing left behind by mass-consumerism.

That is why I think it is important that a medium as Cosh! has been created. I often get questions for specific clothing items and where to buy them sustainably, as people are gaining more and more awareness in what they are wearing. I often don’t know the answer and cannot help people with their conscious decisions, so it’s awesome that we can now start using this platform as a database for consuming consciously. It is really important to showcase companies that are making an effort in improving the lives of workers and the relationship to our natural environment to the public, as they deserve to grow their share in the market. A platform like this will help a lot to bring the consumer to the right companies and grow their more sustainable relationship to fashion.